1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to conformal visualization and, more particularly, to a method of interactive display arrangement retargeting using conformal visualization retargeting in virtual reality using conformal visualization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Virtual Reality (VR) environments are becoming increasingly popular. VR refers to a computer-simulated environment, which simulates a physical presence in the real world as well as in non-real world locations. One such environment is a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE), which may also be called an Immersive Cabin (IC). A CAVE or IC may be provided by display on three, four, five or six of the surfaces of a cube, or even more surfaces on a multi-face polyhedron, within which a user is positioned. Although a six-surface IC may provide a more immersive feel for the user, such IC may be expensive and difficult to construct. Thus, an IC or other VR environment having less than six surfaces may be used. CAVEs are generally described in Cruz-Neira et al., Surround-Screen Projection Based Virtual Reality: The Design and Implementation of the CAVE, COMPUTER GRAPHICS Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, 1993. ICs are generally described in Qiu et al., Enclosed Five-Wall Immersive Cabin, Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Advances in Visual Computing 2008.
A number of visualization technologies have been developed for immersive exploration of large-scale complex data. An example is a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) that provides a larger field of view in a virtual environment compared to traditional desktop systems. The HMD uses stereoscopic pairs of images to provide improved perception of spatial relationships. While HMDs allow for arbitrary views in the virtual world, they are usually bulky and can cause eye fatigue. In contrast, ICs provide a more natural visualization without the need for a virtual avatar and allow for mixed reality applications. Building a fully enclosed IC, however, remains a difficult task and present engineering challenges including cost, facility access, and head and gesture tracking. Immersion in the virtual data is a function of different factors, such as sensory perceptions, interaction techniques, and realism of the visualization.
The disadvantage of partially-immersive environments, such as ICs with at least one missing display surface, is that important visual information is often lost due to distortion. While many applications may tolerate such lost information on one or more projection screens, partial loss of visual context will adversely affect user navigation capabilities and present critical limitations when used for exploration of certain data, such as medical data.
In VR, immersive systems such as the IC provide an important tool for the collaborative exploration of large three-dimensional (3D) data. Unlike head-mounted displays, these systems are often only partially immersive due to space, access or cost constraints. The resulting loss of visual information becomes an obstacle for critical tasks that need to utilize the users' entire field of vision. Thus, a technique which provides an advantage of providing quick and efficient mapping in fully-immersive systems to partially-immersive systems and vice-versa is needed.